ALAN DERSHOWITZ
2006-09-15 03:10:59 UTC
Blame the Terrorists, not Israel
Alan Dershowitz in the Boston Globe:
The Hezbollah and Hamas provocations against Israel once again demonstrate
how terrorists can exploit human rights and the media in their attacks on
democracies. By hiding behind their own civilians, the Islamic radicals
issue a challenge to democracies: Either violate your own morality by coming
after us and inevitably killing some innocent civilians, or maintain your
morality and leave us with a free hand to target your innocent civilians.
This challenge presents democracies such as Israel with a lose-lose option
and terrorists with a win-win option.
There is one variable that could change this dynamic and present democracies
with a viable option that could make terrorism less attractive as a tactic:
The international community, the anti-Israel segment of the media, and human
rights organizations should stop falling for this gambit and acknowledge
that they are being used to promote the terrorist agenda. Whenever a
democracy is presented with the lose-lose option and chooses to defend its
citizens by going after the terrorists who are hiding among civilians, this
trio of predictable condemners can be counted on by the terrorists to accuse
the democracy of "overreaction," "disproportionality," and "violations of
human rights." In doing so, they play into the hands of the terrorists and
cause more terrorism and more civilian casualties on both sides.
If instead this trio could, for once, be counted on to blame the terrorists
for the civilian deaths on both sides, this tactic would no longer be a
win-win situation for the terrorists.
It should be obvious by now that Hezbollah and Hamas actually want the
Israeli military to kill as many Lebanese and Palestinian civilians as
possible. That is why they store their rockets underneath the beds of
civilians. That is why they launch their missiles from crowded civilian
neighborhoods and hide among civilians. They are seeking to induce Israel to
defend its civilians by going after them among their civilian "shields."
They know that every civilian they induce Israel to kill hurts Israel in the
media and the international and human rights communities. They regard these
human shields as "Shahids," or martyrs, even if they did not volunteer for
the lethal jobs. Under the law, criminals who use human shields are
responsible for the deaths of their shields, even if the bullets that kill
them come from policemen's guns.
...
The world must come to recognize the cynical way in which terrorists exploit
civilian casualties. They launch antipersonnel rockets designed to maximize
enemy civilian deaths, then they cry ``human rights" when their own
civilians -- behind whom they are hiding -- are killed by the democracies
while trying to prevent further terrorism. The idea that terrorists who use
women and children as suicide bombers against other women and children shed
crocodile tears over the deaths of civilians whom they deliberately put in
harm's way gives new meaning to hypocrisy. We all know that hypocrisy is a
terrorist tactic, but it is shocking that others fall for it and become
complicit with the terrorists. Let the blame fall where it belongs: on the
terrorists who seek to kill enemy civilians and give democratic enemies
little choice but to kill some civilians behind whom the terrorists hide.
Those who condemn Israel cause more civilian deaths and make it harder for
Israel to withdraw from the West Bank.
Alan Dershowitz in the Boston Globe:
The Hezbollah and Hamas provocations against Israel once again demonstrate
how terrorists can exploit human rights and the media in their attacks on
democracies. By hiding behind their own civilians, the Islamic radicals
issue a challenge to democracies: Either violate your own morality by coming
after us and inevitably killing some innocent civilians, or maintain your
morality and leave us with a free hand to target your innocent civilians.
This challenge presents democracies such as Israel with a lose-lose option
and terrorists with a win-win option.
There is one variable that could change this dynamic and present democracies
with a viable option that could make terrorism less attractive as a tactic:
The international community, the anti-Israel segment of the media, and human
rights organizations should stop falling for this gambit and acknowledge
that they are being used to promote the terrorist agenda. Whenever a
democracy is presented with the lose-lose option and chooses to defend its
citizens by going after the terrorists who are hiding among civilians, this
trio of predictable condemners can be counted on by the terrorists to accuse
the democracy of "overreaction," "disproportionality," and "violations of
human rights." In doing so, they play into the hands of the terrorists and
cause more terrorism and more civilian casualties on both sides.
If instead this trio could, for once, be counted on to blame the terrorists
for the civilian deaths on both sides, this tactic would no longer be a
win-win situation for the terrorists.
It should be obvious by now that Hezbollah and Hamas actually want the
Israeli military to kill as many Lebanese and Palestinian civilians as
possible. That is why they store their rockets underneath the beds of
civilians. That is why they launch their missiles from crowded civilian
neighborhoods and hide among civilians. They are seeking to induce Israel to
defend its civilians by going after them among their civilian "shields."
They know that every civilian they induce Israel to kill hurts Israel in the
media and the international and human rights communities. They regard these
human shields as "Shahids," or martyrs, even if they did not volunteer for
the lethal jobs. Under the law, criminals who use human shields are
responsible for the deaths of their shields, even if the bullets that kill
them come from policemen's guns.
...
The world must come to recognize the cynical way in which terrorists exploit
civilian casualties. They launch antipersonnel rockets designed to maximize
enemy civilian deaths, then they cry ``human rights" when their own
civilians -- behind whom they are hiding -- are killed by the democracies
while trying to prevent further terrorism. The idea that terrorists who use
women and children as suicide bombers against other women and children shed
crocodile tears over the deaths of civilians whom they deliberately put in
harm's way gives new meaning to hypocrisy. We all know that hypocrisy is a
terrorist tactic, but it is shocking that others fall for it and become
complicit with the terrorists. Let the blame fall where it belongs: on the
terrorists who seek to kill enemy civilians and give democratic enemies
little choice but to kill some civilians behind whom the terrorists hide.
Those who condemn Israel cause more civilian deaths and make it harder for
Israel to withdraw from the West Bank.